STUFF
You've heard about the new trend - putting political ads on You Tube in
hopes that they'll catch on and lead to enhanced popularity for the candidate.
Here's one I ran across quite by accident - it's Christopher Knight (no,
not the kid from The Brady Bunch) who's running for the Rockingham
County, NC School Board. I'm going to offer it without comment and let
you decide whether you would vote for the guy based on this ad. I'll just
say I wouldn't vote against him because of it - but then I'm kind of a
sci-fi geek and the special effects are at least as good as Jason
of Star Command.

From
the mailbag, Joseph Housewrites:In 1999, you had Ripcord in your oldies section that
included a sound-byte of the title song. One of the only vestiges of the
show that existed. It was the prototypical skydiving drama, in many ways
the same thing to skydiving as Jonny Quest was to action adventures.
I saw the show as a kid, & it was how I learned about skydiving but
I know more about the show from trivia & what IMdB stated about it
than from my memory of watching it. It's one of those shows I was captivated
by as a kid and would like to get a perspective of what to think of it
now. It seems like a waste to drown it in the sea of obscurity. I'm surprised
recordings of the show haven't been preserved by skydiving clubs for posterity.
I suppose if a saw an episode, I may find out why it got consigned for
extinction. But its mustard seed impact on aviation entitles it to a more
dignified sendoff. It was cutting edge skydiving while skydiving itself
was in its infancy and the filming of the episodes was history in the
making. Somebody really fixed something that wasn't broke when TVP's idea
of progress was to remove RC's theme song from its roster. Restoring it
to its slot among the TV archives will be greatly appreciated.

IMdB
has pretty good details about the show. But it's all postings. No sound
bytes or clips. A lot more fuss is made over Andy Griffith, Gilligan's
Island, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, & The Flintstones
than over Ripcord. Some of these are constantly recycled through
all the oldies stations. Seems like too many of them show all the same
shows, while some of the rarer gems like this one, 77 Sunset Strip
and Sea Hunt, seem to be one week wonders at best. At least
the latter 2 sometimes get shown.

Thanks
for reminding me of that page, Paul - you
can find it here. I don't remember where the video clip came
from or I'd recapture it. I loved that show as a kid as well, along with
Whirlybirds, another syndicated show that took to the skies for
adventure.

This not watching TV except on DVD gets a bit frustrating when I see teasers
for this season's The Shield episodes - I want to see this season's
episodes Sooo badly. But there's no point in starting now, several episodes
into the season. So I wait on pins and needles for the season 7 DVD set.
And the last half-season of The Sopranos can't get here quickly
enough. Don't tell me how it ends!

Good
news Paul - the definitive Popeye collection is on the way. Check
out the cool package design - not the modernized cartoony look you'd expect.
What a great collection this is going to be. Out of your list, New
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Shazzan (not to be confused
with Shazam) could turn up, maybe this year, that is if Huck Finn
still exists. Those are Hanna-Barbera titles and they've been aggressively
releasing their library (thank you HB!). The Banana Splits apparently
doesn't exist in its original form, only in hacked up, incomplete segments
so it's on the unlikely list for now but still worth releasing in my opinion.

What's
holding up Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, and Crusader
Rabbit? Do Science Fiction Theatre and Beany and Cecil
still exist in any great numbers? Maverick, I predict, will be
coming to DVD this year but there's no release date. There's been a nice
sampler with a handful of episodes out for some time.

As
for Honey West and Twelve 0'Clock High - your guess
is as good as mine. If you're Catholic you might want to light a candle
over those!

DVD
EXTRASI'm
just going to go on record as saying to all of you out there producing
extras for TV shows on DVD - you need to check out the two Gunsmoke
'Best Of' volumes, they contain the best episode commentaries I've ever
heard. The reason they're so good? The interviewees stick to stories about
the production of the shows with behind-the-scenes tales from the principal
players that are a great deal more revealing than most. You come away
with a great deal of knowledge about how things were done on the other
side of the camera, all too often audio commentaries are of the 'let's
watch the show together' stripe.

The
producer of the Gunsmoke DVDs - Paul Brownstein - is the gold
standard of the industry because, in addition to knowing the right people
to interview and what to ask, he finds the lost gems hidden in the vaults
- in this case syndication promos and rare talk show appearances. And
he leaves in the interstitials where possible ("Gunsmoke
will continue after station identification.").

Look
at this list of extras for volume 2 alone:
Commentary by Ed Asner on Hung High
Commentary by Bruce Dern on The Jailer
Commentary by Buck Taylor on The Pillagers
Commentary by James Arness on A Quiet Day in Dodge
Special episode introductions by James Arness
Special introduction by John Wayne on series premiere episode "Matt
Gets It"
Rare home movies filmed on the set by Dennis Weaver
James Arness as Matt Dillon and Dennis Weaver as Chester on The Ed Sullivan
Show
Bloopers and gag reels
Amanda Blake on The Mike Douglas Show and The David Frost
Show
Westerns Channel Gunsmoke Memories
A CBS executive remembers Gunsmoke
Museum of TV & Radio Q&A with cast
Emmy Award footage
Original CBS network promos
Photo galleries

Another
key component in Brownstein's productions - he gets the stars of the shows
(in this case James Arness who played Marshall Dillon) to do introductions
to the episodes. At first I thought this was an unnecessary bit - now
I find it kind of interesting, it provides a bridge between the past and the present. For my money, these kinds of extras are
a great deal more valuable than the mini-documentaries that are so popular.

CHUCK
McCANNNew
to TVparty is a telephone conversation I had recently with Chuck
McCann, one of television and film's great character actors.He's
also one of Hollywood's busiest voice actors, boomers know him as the
voice of Sonny the Cuckoo Bird in the Cocoa Puffs commercials- that's
just one of hundreds of roles he's famous for. Here's a sample of our
talk:

(PART
TWO) - Real Player
/ Quicktime
Chuck talks about the time he was performing the role of Sailor Clyde
on the Captain Kangaroo show in 1959 and about living and working
(and becoming friends with Jason Robards) in New York in the 1960s. Stories
about working on Cool McCool, Turn On (the notorious
TV flop that lasted one episode, produced by Laugh-In's George
Schlatter), and the Steve Allen Tonight Show. I asked Chuck about
playing W. C. Fields in the TV movie Mae West - as far as I'm
concerned no one has inhabited the role of Fields better than Chuck did
in that film.

SUNDAY
YOU TUBE
Here's a corny routine from The Dean Martin Show with Paul Lynde:

Joan
Crawford died almost exactly 30 years ago - on May 10, 1977. Here she
is doing what she's not known for - singing in a movie from 1937, The
Bride Wore Red.

Of course,
even Joan Crawford didn't do Joan Crawford as well as female impersonators
and cabaret performers. The best was probably Charles Pierce, here from
the mid-1980s:

Here's
a excerpt from The Hollywood History of Camp (looks like something
homemade to me) that touches gives you a bit of Crawford and Bette Davis
at the end - as well as Mae West, Gloria Swanson, Marilyn Monroe and other
movie star icons.

MAYBERRY'S
FINEST
Thirty five years after Mayberry R.F.D. left the air, a new line
of foods is coming out with the Mayberry brand.

From
the press release:That's right. America's beloved hometown cook and the folks at Diversity
Brands are teaming up to create an exciting new line of packaged foods
that will bring the flavors of Mayberry right into homes all across America,
and beyond.
The new line of foods will stroll onto store shelves in late summer.
Among the millions of us still avidly tuning into Mayberry is Phil Connelly,
president of Choice Food of America, a partner in Diversity Brands.
"I've always loved ‘The Andy Griffith Show,'" said Phil,
who is without question the biggest Goober at the Nashville-based food
company. "When I think of Mayberry, I think of good friends, family,
home and delicious food. Those are all qualities that we're shooting for
with Mayberry's Finest." (Let's hope his aim is better than Barney's!)
Phil adds, "While we're focused on providing only the very best foods,
we also plan for the appeal of the packaging and promotion to be a reflection
of the wholesome entertainment and fun of the show itself."
"We're thrilled to have an association with ‘The Andy Griffith
Show,' and to have this wonderful opportunity to create some delicious
premium foods that also connect with the fond memories and deep affection
that millions of people have for Mayberry and what "The Andy Griffith
Show" stands for," says Marcela Gómez, president of Diversity
Brands.
Marcela and Phil both conveniently dodge questions from us about how Mayberry's
Finest plans to deal with the only two foods that Aunt Bee doesn't know
how to prepare: homemade "kerosene cucumbers" and marmalade.
All Phil will say is, "Wait and see. Wait and see."
And while it doesn't take a keen investigative mind like Barney's to predict
that the companies involved with creating Mayberry's Finest would be enthusiastic
about the new line of foods, what is the reaction on Main Street in Mayberry-that
is, among the show's many devoted fans?
For the answer to that question, no one is in a better position to know
than Kenneth Junkin, leader of TAGSRWC's "Hearty Eatin' Men and Beautiful,
Delicate Women" chapter (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and one of the biggest
fans of TAGS.
"This is the biggest thing to happen with Mayberry in years. I couldn't
be more excited about anything," says Kenneth. "There's nothing
I like more than good food and Mayberry," he adds. "To have
them combined and to actually be able to get a real taste of Mayberry
is the best of both worlds," says Kenneth, who apparently was so
overwhelmed by the big announcement about Mayberry's Finest that he forgot
to mention any passion he might have for University of Alabama football.
(Shazam!)

If you grew
up down South as I did, during the early-1970s, there was an Andy Griffith
line of canned foods and country ham. Seems to me if they want this line
to be a success, you've got to have country ham (the kind that makes red
eye gravy) and sausage. And grits, right? Mostly what I see are canned
beans and biscuit/ muffin mixes, that kind of thing. I'd have gone for
a more 1960's retro package design, this line looks like the same old
thing to me with a picture of the Taylor family (Ain't Bee, Opie and Andy)
on top.

To be honest,
I hope the stuff is good, as tasty as Glory foods at least. But then I
don't eat a lot of canned foods or do much baking. Look for Mayberry's
Finest in your stores and let me know what you think.

All
of this assumes the new shows will survive and the returning programs
thrive.

The
Sarah Connor Chronicles will bring the characters from the Terminator
movies to series TV. Sarah and her son are on the run from enemies from
the future - sounds like The Invaders all over again. I'd watch
it if it was good.

Back
to You will be the one to keep an eye on - it stars Patricia Heaton
(Everybody Loves Raymond) and Kelsey Grammer (Frasier)
as two news anchors who are constantly at odds.

The
guys behind Rescue Me (Denis Leary and Jim Serpico) are hoping
you'll like their new one - Canterbury's Law, about a tough female
defense attorney (ER's Julianna Margulies).

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